


Always Designate a Driver

by Graceless_Grace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, Fever, M/M, Multi, Sickfic, it does not end well for them, so i tagged a lot of em go nuts y'all, the boys plus pidge decide to party it up, the world is your oyster go nuts, this is pretty open ended so you can read a lot of different ships here, wasn't sure if this could be set as a college au or not so just use your imagination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 15:33:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11188074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Graceless_Grace/pseuds/Graceless_Grace
Summary: Modern-AU Voltron;Keith, Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk go out drinking while Lance stays home, claiming he has something of much more importance today - mainly, sleep of this fever he's been hiding. But of course Lance's friends are all idiots who didn't designate someone to drive, and spent most of their money at the bar. Cue Lance, albeit feverish and sad, to the rescue!





	Always Designate a Driver

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taylor_tut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/gifts).



Lance McClain prided himself on being a party person. He was always the first up on any birthday, making a special breakfast or bringing a special coffee (on the house, courtesy of Lance's Starbucks employee discount). He enjoyed going out to clubs and dancing with his friends, even though he wasn't a very big drinker. Hell, if Pidge invited him to 4AM mini golf in the dark he would go in a heartbeat. 

Just not today.

Not when every inch of him ached. His limbs were heavy, gravity pulling each inch of him down to hell, slowly, slowly. Each individual ache added to the misery of the dull throbbing in his head, pain behind his eyes more than anything else. There was something sad about staying home to sleep, and not being quite able to get there. 

Truthfully, he just wanted water, something, anything to help rid him of the dry mucus coating his throat. God, everything  _hurt_. His fingers and toes were numb, his arms and legs felt like lead, he needed to get up and get Hunk of lay down and sleep, but first he needed Hunk. Only Hunk didn't- Hunk was home probably. Which meant Hunk could bundle him up in his soft blanket and feed him soup. He'd much rather Keith do it, beautiful Keith, but Keith would never do something so embarrassing. Probably. 

Lance managed to move himself off the couch and into the kitchen, where he realized Hunk wasn't. Usually there was always something going on in their kitchen; a pot simmering on the stove, a pie cooling in the window, a candle burning on the counter. But today it was cool and calm and quiet, everything Hunk was, just... without the coldness of the room. Everything felt off. Hunk obviously wasn't here, he couldn't remember  _where_ he (and everyone else for that matter) had gone to, but he remembered that he had opted out, saying something about studying. He wasn't studying, though, he was sleeping. Sleeping, as the darkness dragged him down, down, down, calming the heat inside him down to a gentle flame, keeping him just warm enough without a blanket. 

Something at the back of mind was telling him to take better action with this. Something was  _wrong_ but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, and frankly, the heaviness of sleep of so inviting. Especially now, when the heaviness of his arms and legs felt enough weight that he wondered if they could be pulled off entirely, or when his eyes burned and watered as he closed them. Taking action could wait. 

His throat still begged for water, and his muscles yearned for a hot bath, but his head was most important right now, and his head wanted to sleep. 

Besides, without someone to take care of him, he wasn't sure he had much of a choice. 

* * *

 

"Lance was so wrong to miss this!" Pidge yelled over the speakers. She, Hunk, Keith, and Shiro had found this  _amazing_ indie bar that took song requests, and Pidge had put in $20 and a list of Ghost Mice remixes. Needlessly to say she was happier than ever, and it didn't hurt that it was a bar, and the three of them were doing what people in their early twenties do in bars: drink. 

Hunk had downed 4 or 5 different versions of some fruity thing with vodka and what had probably, at one point, been considered coconut water. Meanwhile Keith had stuck mostly to rum and coke, and Pidge had had one of basically every drink they served. Shiro downed a few rounds of vodka, then mused over a few beers while waiting for Pidge to finish dancing. They had been at the bar for hours now, drinking and dancing and flirting with strangers. Pidge was having the time of her life!

"I can't believe he wanted to study instead of come here!" 

She spun around by the edge of the dance floor, her dress flowing around her, the lace around the edges glowing under the black lights of the bar. After a few seconds, she toppled into Hunk, cheeks flushed pink from the alcohol. 

"Maybe we should leave." Hunk took her my the shoulders to steady her, smiling sheepishly at her before breaking off into a deep fit of giggles. "Oh, man!" He laughed, pulling Keith into his side for a drunken group hug. 

"We're all too drunk to drive!" Keith was yelling, partially because of all the drinks, but also because of all the noise. "We should, uh - we should call Lance!"

"Yeah!!" Pidge agreed, planting a wet kiss on Hunk's cheek. He blushed, then smiled widely. 

* * *

 

There's something strangely familiar about the setting he wakes to - everything is fuzzy and black and grey. Too much of nothing all at once, while a concentrated feeling of intense heat pools from Lance's stomach up through his throat to his head. He laughs silently to himself; if he wasn't in so much pain, this heated sensation might have reminded him of when he first met Keith, and felt those nervous butterflies swirling around in his colon. Funny, probably.

Of course, even though he wished it was so, he wasn't waking up to something nice. There wasn't anyone standing by the edge of the couch, shaking him awake and helping him to bed so he could rest properly. 

No, Lance woke to his ringtone blasting obnoxiously loud in his ear, piercing through his skull like an actual nail having been beaten through the top of his head. 

"Ohh, God..." He moaned, both hands going to cover his ears. Once he realized that this wasn't helping to calm the sharp pain in his head, he reached out, groping around blindly for his cellphone. Hopefully answering would be quieter than letting it ring.

"Heyyy Lance, baby!!"

Mother of God, the ringing was better. The ringing was so much better. 

Crappy music poured through the speaker, along with Pidge and Keith both trying to yell into the phone at the same time. They were slurring drunkenly, giggling every so often, and yelling louder and louder each time Lance failed to respond to their calls to him. 

"Wha-?" 

"Lance!" Pidge's voice came through clearer this time; she had finally wrestled the phone away from Keith and was happily blathering on and on. "So, I know you didn't wanna come out with us, but we,  uh, didn't pick someone to drive! Funny stuff, right? So, you gotta get down here and pick us up! We wanna go home!!"

In the background, Lance could hear Hunk jokingly yelling at him: "Help us, Obi-Wan McClain! You're our only hope!"

He swallowed thickly. He  _really_ wasn't in the mood for this. Each pain he had felt before dozing off was practically doubled at this point, and the phone was beginning to blur in the corners of his vision. "Can't you guys take a cab home?" he croaked. 

Normally he hated losing his voice, or even just getting hoarse, but now... he was in so much pain that he wondered if any of those idiots would ask about his well-being. 

"Nope!" Pidge beamed. "We s-spent a lot, we don't have enough for cab fare. Just come get us, I'll text you the address. Bye bye!!"

The phone disconnected after that, and Lance realized that he had no choice but to suck it up and drive down to get them. With a heavy sigh, he swung his legs over the edge of the couch, and stood on shaky knees. After wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, Lance decided to make the trek to the kitchen for a glass of water. He felt as if his throat was about to split on the inside, and tears were springing to the corners of his eyes. 

After his first few sips of water, the icy liquid made him cough, sputtering weakly until he dropped the glass in the sink, a piece of the rim breaking off. Normally, Lance would have cared if he wasn't feeling so awful. He dropped the blanket, suddenly boiling hot, and grabbed his keys, praying he could make it to the bar in one piece. 

* * *

 

By the time Lance finally showed up, the bar was closing down the the night, and Keith was half-wasted and pissed off. 

"Where the hell is he?!" Keith fumed. "It's fucking freezing outside and we live 15 minutes away. He should have been here by now. Forgive me, your royal highness, for intruding on your lame study time. God, sometimes I wonder if-"

Pidge cut him off, sighing heavily. The best part of her buzz was already wearing off, and she wasn't happy to be standing in the cold listening to Keith rant. "We get it, Kogane, let it go. It's late, he was probably sleeping." 

Two minutes later, Lance pulled up, swerving dangerously against the curb, although, he realized that it was lucky he got here at all. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge piled into the back while Shiro slipped into the back, cranking up the heat to stave off the bitter cold that surrounded them from the outside. 

Lance groaned quietly, doing his best to focus on the road. It was harder than it usually was; everything was dark and fuzzy and  _god_ thanks to these idiots it was burning up in the car. 

"Can we turn the heat down? It's a million degrees in here." Lance grumbled, swerving again in attempt to stay in the lane. 

"Jesus, Lance! That was a red light!" "What the hell, man, watch the road!" 

Lance couldn't hear his friends cries from the back seat. Blood was pulsing in his ears, the heat of the car threatening to strangle him if he sat in it much longer. Without realizing it, he swerved again, nearly merging into another car in the right lane.

"Fuck- Shiro, take the wheel!" 

A combination of Keith's commands and Shiro's arm managed to land the group at a gas station, Lance hurriedly claiming that the lack of a full tank was causing the car to go berserk. He couldn't tell them he was sick now, they were already so mad! Oh man, what if they didn't want to take care of him when they got home? They were all so obviously wasted, and Lance knew that he wasn't the easiest person to be around, even when sober. 

"M'sorry!" Lance slurred, tightly gripping the wheel. Everyone was still cramped in the car, the air stiflingly warm, and the silence now broken. Hot tears trailed down Lance's cheeks before he could stop them - everything was happening so fast and the world around him was all fuzzy and he felt dizzy and everything  _hurt_ still and now he had failed at being the designated driver and ruined everyone's fun. He really  _was_ the weakest link in this friend group. He must have been. Fun, strong people didn't get sick during party night. Fun, strong people went out and had a few drinks like everyone else!

"Lance?" Hunk asked, getting out from the back. He came around the car and opened the driver-side door, taking in Lance's appearance for the first time since they'd been picked up. He looked  _terrible._

Lance's skin was as pale as a sheet, with the exception of his cheeks, which were fiery red. This wasn't cute, like Pidge's pink cheeks from too many drinks. This was terrifying, like when Keith had pneumonia and had to go to the hospital. Swallowing thickly, Hunk pressed his hand against Lance's sweaty forehead, then gasped. 

"Oh my god, Lance, you're burning up!" he exclaimed. Suddenly the car was full of chaos; both Shiro and Hunk were feeling Lance's forehead and cheeks because of the fever, Keith paled in fear for his friend, and Pidge's attitude sobered up instantly as she and Keith began barking questions at the other two, concerned that Lance would need to go to an Urgent Care center or the hospital. 

Shiro sighed, drawing his hand back from Lance's boiling cheek. He was leaning against Hunk now, breathing heavily, as if the weight of his illness was hitting him suddenly all at once. 

"Here's what we're gonna do," Shiro decided. "Pidge, you and Keith go into the Mini Mart and get some coffee and granola and stuff - whatever we can afford. Hunk, you're the least hammered so you have the honor of eating and drinking a fuckton until you're sober enough to drive. We gotta get Lance home, whatever he's got isn't looking good at all. I'll call Allura and have her drive down to the pharmacy and then to the apartment. If all comes to worse she can pick up Lance, but we're all too wasted to be alone in a parking lot this late, and Lance is the closest thing to sober as we've got-"

At that moment Lance moaned softly into Hunk's side, something about big lions and space. Absolute nonsense. 

"- even though he's worse off than most of us."

* * *

 

Seven minutes into Hell In a QuickTrips Parking Lot saw Lance going rapidly downhill. In the few minutes they'd been parked, Lance had begun coughing violently and whimpering, even though he wasn't quite asleep. He was somewhere between unconscious and completely delirious, and even worse, his fever was beginning to rise. 

Hunk only left him for a minute to use the bathroom, but when he came back Lance was convinced he had abandoned him for not being able to drive them home. 

"You're okay, buddy, it's gonna be fine," Hunk cooed, Lance curled up in his lap like a kitten. It would have been sweet to see Lance so small and sleepy against Hunk's chest if he didn't have tears streaming down his cheeks. 

A minute later, Pidge returned with two plastic bags filled with stuff from the store. 

"We told the guy about Lance and he gave us a ton of free stuff for him," Pidge explained. "Allura and I are gonna swing back tomorrow and pay for it all, but look!" She routed around in one of the bags before pulling out a mini bottle of nearly-expired aspirin. "We also got two cups of coffee, three bottles of water," she handed a bottle to Hunk, " and a cup of instant oatmeal. I'll be right back with Keith, he's inside watching the oatmeal and shit. The guy also said he's got a blanket if we need it, but it's really fucking dusty and-" Lance let out a shaky cough, "- I don't like the sound of that  _without_ dust added to the equation. So, last resort, I think." 

Hunk nodded, already half-done with his water. He pressed the side of the cool bottle against Lance's forehead, smiling as best he could as the coldness of it seemed to relax Lance a little. 

"Pidge!" Shiro called back. "Get napkins! I have an idea!" 

It was kind of a shitty idea, in retrospect, but what other choice did they have? A minute later, Pidge and Keith returned with the aforementioned coffee and oatmeal, and a pile of sad, brown paper napkins. 

"Okay, Hunk, trade places with me. You need to focus on sobering up enough to drive. Keith, you and Pidge help me with these napkins, pass me a water bottle... I figure if we soak these in water we can use them to help keep Lance cool." 

Keith started laying cold, damp napkins across Lance's heated skin, and Pidge opened the pill box. 

"C'mon, Lance, open your mouth... please? For me?" Pidge's gentle tone helped relax Lance enough that Pidge could help him swallow two of the little white pills and a sip of water. 

* * *

 

Two coffees, one water bottle, and a cup of oatmeal later and Hunk was confident he could drive safe enough to get everyone back to the apartment. 

"Just in time," Keith sighed, pushing back a lock of Lance's sweat-soaked hair from his forehead. He winced, partially at the heat radiating from Lance's skin, but more so at Lance's other symptoms. The aspirin from earlier didn't seem to be doing much, and he feared that they would have to take him to the hospital. Lance was in the back seat between he and Shiro, curled against Shiro's side. 

As Hunk sped off down the road, Shiro rubbed Lance's back, both he and Keith whispering sweet nothings to calm him down. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I take requests! Hit me up either on my blog (graceless-fever) or here. ♡  
> Please don't forget to comment if you liked it!


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